When the late, colorful, revered patriarch of the Arturo Fuente family, Don Carlos Senior — son of legendary company founder Arturo Fuente — passed away in 2016, it was the end of an era in cigar history.
It was the humble Don Carlos who put the Arturo Fuente name on the map both literally and figuratively as he grew the company over decades from a local and regional cigar maker to the internationally renowned brand and mainstay — now based in the Dominican Republic — that it is today. In his typically modest way, Don Carlos explained, “My dream wasn’t to be the biggest [cigar maker in the world], just the best.”
Through ups and downs and thick and thin, Don Carlos built his family’s empire into the most respected brand in the cigar business. To fittingly honor Don Carlos with a new release bearing his name, the company — now led by his son Don “Carlito” Carlos Junior — started with one of Don Senior’s most highly regarded blends (originally formulated in 1976) and elevated it to create a cigar that achieved nearly the highest rating — 97 — that Cigar Aficionado has ever bestowed. (Only four cigars have scored higher, and two of them were produced in the 1950s.) The Don Carlos line is one of less than a dozen cigars to ever achieve such a score. The line’s vitolas have been rated 90 or above an unprecedented 65 times, with seven Top 25 Cigar of the Year placements.
Rolled at the family’s Tabacalera A. Fuente factory in Santiago, cigars in the Don Carlos line feature flawless Cameroonian wrapper surrounding Dominican tobaccos aged as long as 10 years, sealed with a Dominican binder in aesthetically beautiful, immaculately constructed, sweet yet savory sticks.
The superlative flavors of the Don Carlos line include coffee beans, leather, cedar and earth, enhanced by traces of cocoa, cinnamon, raisins and dark cherries. The wrappers are as alluring as they are delicious; these cigars have both an even burn and an easy draw. Medium-bodied, but without a spicy or peppery kick, the tastes are subtle, and the smoke produced has a wonderfully creamy character. These are sumptuous cigars for those who want the very best.